The Phoenix
by Cherry Hitachiin
Summary: The world was at peace after the Avatar ended the war, but with growing dissent in the fire nation, something was bound to happen. Follow the journey of Skaia and her friends as they discover the truth and the lies of the newly started war. Summary sounds like the beginning of a show, but please review kindly. OCxOC Sokka and Suki are just in there. K for slight violence.
1. Skaia

Water. All around me I see water. I have no idea why I am sleeping in a wooden boat. The only things I do know, is that my name is Skaia, I am sixteen years old, I have long brown hair, that is currently in a pony tail, I have purple eyes, I'm terrified of the dark, and I love animals. Apparently, I love animals so much, that I have a tattoo of a red phoenix wrapped around my right ankle. I look over the edge of the boat and see some fish. I just stare at them for a few minutes, when they suddenly swim away. Before I know what's happening, my boat is being pulled by something. I look all around my boat, but all there is, is water. I look closely and realize that it's the water that's pulling me. I know it can't just be a current because there is a stick a few feet away from me, and it isn't moving at all. I'm scared of what's pulling me, so I take the only blanket I have for warmth and throw it over my curled up body. Eventually the pull of the boat makes me fall back asleep.

"Hey, are you okay? Lady?" I slowly wake up to hear someone talking. I'm blinded by the sun for a few seconds. "Hey, you're awake."

I nearly forgot about the person talking. I shoot up and see a boy. He looks about my age. He has black hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin. "Who-Who are you?" I look around and see ice everywhere. "Where am I?" I look at him expectantly, but he doesn't say anything. "Why aren't you answering any of my questions?"

"Oh! Right, sorry. My name is Aaron, and you are in the Southern Water Tribe." He grabs my hand. "Come on, you have to meet my dad. He's the leader of our village." He runs with me trailing behind him. Forget that. I'm barely touching the ground with how fast he's running. I begin to see more and more homes the further we get into the village. He abruptly stops, and I nearly run into him. "Stay right here for a second, okay?" I nod, and he goes into the hut. I just realized how cold it was. I start shivering. How can you blame me? I'm not wearing much, just a brown dress with nothing covering my arms or anything below my knees. I don't even have any shoes. He comes back out and gestures for me to follow him. "Dad, this is-uh-what's your name?"

"My-My name is Skaia." I bow before the man in front of me. "I'm sorry to intrude upon your home like this." He just laughs at me.

I must look confused. "Don't look so scared. We won't hurt you here!" He is a little intimidating, but only because of his deep, booming voice. He has a really shaggy beard, brown hair, kind blue eyes, and he's wearing really warm looking blue robes. "It's nice to meet you, Skaia. I'm Chief Sokka." He reaches out his hand, and I shake it. "So, where are you from? I've never seen a girl around here with a phoenix tattoo on her ankle."

I look down at the floor. "I-I don't know, sir. The only things I remember are my name, my age, and all the things that have happened since I woke up this morning. I think I'm from somewhere warmer than this, though."

"I can see that. Aaron, take her to your mother." He nods in agreement and takes me to another hut.

"Mom?"

"Yes, what is it, darling?" A very pretty lady comes out. "Oh, my goodness! You must be freezing!" I sheepishly nod my head. "Here, come with me." She takes me into another room. "Huh, now where is it? Ah, there it is. Here, try this on." She ushers me behind the curtain. "My name's Suki, by the way. What's your name?"

"Skaia." I walk out from behind the curtain. "Is this the way it goes?" I'm in a purple long sleeve shirt, dark purple pants, white boots, white arm bands, a thick white sash around my waist, and a dark blue cloak. She nods at me. "Thanks, it's a lot warmer than my other clothes. Speaking of my clothes, you wouldn't happen to know where they came from, do you?"

She shakes her head. "Brown is used in the fire nation, earth kingdom, air temples, and for people who don't have much. Brown is a hard color to determine." She smiles softly at me and sits a chair in front of herself. "Sit down, your hair is a mess." I sit, and she begins to brush my hair. "You have really pretty hair. It reminds me of Sokka's sister." I look at her, but she just continues brushing my hair in silence. She puts it back in its original pony tail. "Just one more thing." She grabs a white choker and clasps it around my neck. "There, now let's go back to my husband, shall we?" I nod and we walk back to the other hut. It is considerably warmer now, with my new clothes.

Sokka motions for me to sit and just stares at me for a few minutes. I start squirming in my seat uncomfortably. "You aren't a fire nation spy, are you?"

"Sokka!" Suki slaps his arm with a golden fan, and I giggle a little. "I'm sorry about him, Skaia."

I wave my hands dismissively. "No, I understand the curiosity. However, may I ask a question? What is the fire nation?"

Sokka raises his hand to speak, but Suki dismisses him. "Maybe I should tell her." She turns, grabs a map from a jar, and places it on the table. She points to a giant red spot. "This is the fire nation, this is the earth kingdom, these are air temples, and these are water tribes. We are here, in the southern water tribe. The nations are separated by the benders that live there."

"What are benders, and why are they separated?"

"Benders are people who can use the elements around them. There are fire-benders, earth-benders, air-benders even though they are extinct, and water-benders, like my son, Aaron. They are most likely separated so that they may master their elements. The fire nation is the hottest, the water tribes the coldest, the earth kingdom has the most earth, and the air temples are built at the tops of extremely tall are the best places to learn the four elements; although, the Avatar is the only person who can master all four elements. The Avatar is our connection with the Spirit World. The Avatar can also access this thing called 'the Avatar State' where his or her powers become stronger. If the Avatar dies outside of the Avatar State, they will be reborn into the next element in the cycle. The cycle is air, water, earth, then fire. If the Avatar dies while in the Avatar State, the cycle will stop, and there will no longer be an Avatar."

"Why did Sokka ask if I was a fire nation spy? Why would the fire nation spy on you? You all seem like nice and peaceful people to me." Suki looks like she doesn't want to tell me. "What aren't you telling me?"

"You have to understand that it is extremely terrible. Many people have lost their lives, benders and non-benders."

"What is going on?"

"Well, there's a little bit of history that you need to know. A little over a hundred years ago, the fire nation started a war after the Avatar disappeared. The fire nation was cruel and threw all benders who didn't bend fire into prison. They also killed all of the air nomads. One hundred years after the war started, Sokka and his sister Katara discovered the Avatar in a giant block of ice. His name was Aang, and he was only twelve years old. He had become scared when he was told that he was the Avatar, so he had run away. He went on a journey with Katara and Sokka to stop the war. They met many friends and foes. Some of their foes even became their greatest allies. Aang stopped the fire lord when he tried to destroy the world and took away his bending. He accepted his role as Avatar and the fire lord's son succeeded him, bringing peace to the nation. Not long after, the new fire lord was attacked and killed, but when Aang came to help, he was killed also. Thankfully, he was not in the Avatar state, so the people will still have their Avatar. The fire nation is trying to conquer the world again, and we need the Avatar to return to stop them. Sokka asked if you were a spy, because the next element in the cycle is water. Because of that, there are entire armies of fire nation soldiers patrolling the seas looking for the next Avatar."

"May I say my opinion?" Suki nods. "First a question. How did the other nations treat the fire nation after the war had ended?"

Aaron steps up. "Well, we were all still a bit wary of them."

"Thank you. I believe that proves my point. I believe that the fire nation wanted to change with the rest of the nations, but they were still afraid and hateful towards the fire nation. It feels like the fire nation felt like outcasts. They wanted their lives back, but, sadly, that meant that they were going back to a war. I don't think they believe they can live without people being afraid of them."

"So, you're saying that you agree with them for killing thousands of innocent people!?" Sokka stands up and knocks the contents of the table to the ground.

In anger, I stand up too. "No! I would never agree with that! It is barbaric and wrong! I am simply saying that I can see where they are coming from! I am saying that, if that is what happened, that I feel sorry for them! It has to feel terrible to want to change, but no one will let you live down your countries past. What if the same thing happened with the water tribes? How do you think it would feel?" I sit down. "I don't know where I'm from, or even who I was. However, I do know that everyone deserves a second chance, even the fire nation." We hear screaming coming from outside. We all run outside to see what's wrong.

"What's going on!?" There are a group of boys slightly older than me running around Sokka. "One at a-" He looks up and a look of worry comes over his face. I look up to see dark snow begin to fall around us. He looks to me. "Well, you can tell them your opinion now."

"What is this from?"

"Fire Navy warships."


	2. Escaping the War Ship

We all stand in the center waiting for the warship. It arrives and crushes a giant snow tower. "It took me weeks to make that!" Sokka sounds kind of like a whining teenager. The front of the ship lowers to make a staircase. A giant group of fire nation soldiers come down and just stand there looking at all of us. "What do you want with our village?" A man dressed in slightly different armor approaches Sokka.

"I am General Hotaro, and I am here for any benders that you may be hiding." He looks around, but no one moves. "Fine, instead of benders, we'll just take her instead." He grabs my arm and yanks me toward him. I cry out in pain.

"Hey! Let her go!" Aaron takes some water and splashes it on the general. He turns and glares at Aaron. Aaron just stands there. "I'm a bender. Take me instead of her."

"Men, take the water-bender." They grab him by his elbows, and place him in front of the general. He leans down into Aaron's face. "Sorry, kid, but I don't take orders from you. Since I am in such a generous mood, I will allow you two to say your last goodbyes." They let us go, and we run up to Suki.

She envelops us in a hug. "Be careful, you two. Son, think about things before you go into them." She gives Aaron one last hug and turns to me. "Are you going to be alright?"

I give her a hug. "I'll be fine. I'll get us out somehow, I promise." She looks confused. "I don't know how, but I just know that everything will be alright. Just trust me." She nods and lets me go.

The guards begin to take us onto the ship. They take us down a long hallway. They drop Aaron off at one room and me in another. I look around, and there are fire nation symbols on everything. These guys just love to brag, don't they? "Stay in here unless we come to get you. We will be back in about thirty minutes. Don't even try to escape."

"I can't escape. If I could, where would I go? I don't even know who I am." I can't see their expressions behind the masks. They turn away and lock the door. I immediately get up and start looking around the room for anything to help me escape. There are a few different candles around to light the room, a wooden table, a little jar with oil for the candles in it, a wooden chair, a few wall scrolls with the fire nation symbol, a bed, and a rug with the fire nation symbol. I go over and feel the wall scrolls, they feel really thin and papery. Papery? That's it! I have to be quiet while doing this. First, I move the table to directly in front of the door and put one of the taller candles in front of the metal door handle. Next, I take down all of the wall scrolls and throw them to the right side of the room. I take apart the wooden chair and throw the pieces on the ground with the wall scrolls, putting one of the chair legs aside. I take the oil for the candles and pour it over everything on the floor. Now for the hard part. I put my head on the ground to feel for any vibrations. I wait until I hear a distant pair of footsteps. I get up and throw the rest of the candles on the pile to start a fire. It works almost instantly. I bang on the door to get the footprints attention. "Help me! There's a fire! Help, please!" I hear the footsteps getting louder and closer. I grab the chair leg and hide behind the door. The door swings open, and one of the soldiers runs into the room. "One of the candles fell and started burning everything!" He gets closer to the fire to somehow put it out. Not like I'm going to see how he does it. I run out the open door and slam it shut. This is where the candle on the metal door handle comes in. If he goes to open the door back up, he'll burn his hands. I start opening doors as quickly and quietly as I can. I can't go save Aaron until I have a disguise, or, at least, a better weapon than a chair leg. I open a door and see armor, weapons, and supplies everywhere. Thank

the Spirits! I put on the uniform that the guards were wearing. I grab a sword, a whip, a medium-sized but light shield, a few different food supplies, a few different womens clothes-probably stolen-, and a big bag to carry all of it. I leave and head towards Aaron's room. I knock and open the door.

"What do you want? You said you would be back in thirty minutes." I remove my mask. "Skaia?"

"Shh! We're getting out of here. I know for a fact that you can pull in small boats, but can you push them, too?" He nods. "Okay, so we just need to find where they have the smaller, getaway boats, and we can leave. If I may suggest, we need to do this quickly. This armor is kind of heavy."

"How did you escape?"

"They left me in a room with candles, wood, oil, and a metal door. These people aren't the smartest." He nods. "Alright, I'm going to be taking you with me as my prisoner." He looks confused. "You can't just be walking around with a soldier for no reason. So, you ready?" He nods. "Alright, let's go. Keep your hands behind your back unless we are found out. We're on a boat so, if we get to the deck, you'll have plenty of water to work with." I open the door silently and look around. I slide my mask back on and gesture for him to follow me. We slowly begin to walk up to the deck. We're almost there when we get stopped by another guard. "What is the problem?"

"Where are you taking the prisoner?"

"I was ordered to take the prisoner up to General Hotaro so that he may speak with him and decide his punishment. I was also told that after I deliver the prisoner, I was to load some things onto the getaway boats. Would you please remind me where they are? I seem to have slightly lost my bearings."

"Of course. They are hanging on the back side of the boat. I could take the prisoner for you, if you would like."

"No, if the general finds out that I shrugged my duties off to someone else, he will be furious. A furious General Hotaro, is not something I want to see." He nods his head and walks past us. We finally make it up to the deck. There is only one problem, however. The deck is loaded with guards. None of them notice us, so I close the door quietly. "What do we do now? I can't get us to the boats without a reason. It's your turn to come up with an excuse."

He starts thinking. "Well, you could use your earlier excuse. You can just say that you are putting some supplies in the boat, then bringing me up to the general."

"Okay, here. Tie this around your hands so you can easily get out of it." I hand him the whip, and he does as he's told. "Okay, here goes nothing." I grab onto the handle of the whip, open the door, and begin to walk towards the boat. Like we thought we are stopped by another guard.

"Where are you taking the prisoner?" Everyone asks the same question. Can't they at least word it differently?

"I am putting some supplies in one of the getaway boats, then taking him to the general." I continue walking, but he puts his hand on my shoulder. "Is there a problem?"

"I will go with you to the boats." I shrug and continue walking. Aaron looks at me with worry, and I shake my head slightly. We make it to the back of the ship. "I will hold the prisoner while you store the supplies." I hand him the handle of the whip and begin to put the supplies in the boat. I finish and turn back to the guard.

"There is so much _water_ and _ice_ everywhere. Doesn't it just _freeze your body_?" Aaron gets the hint. He unties the whip from his hands. Quickly, he bends some water up and onto the man. He freezes the man where he stands. "Good job, Aaron. Sorry, but we'll be leaving now." I throw off the armor and hop in the boat, where Aaron sits, waiting for me. I take the sword and cut the ropes holding the boat.

"I'll start rowing, then, when I get tired, you take over, okay? Seeing as how you did most of the work, I'll take the first shift. Plus, with my bending, we can further away faster." I nod and he starts to row back to the South Pole.


	3. The Avatar's Journey Begins

We finally get back to the village. Some of the villagers are helping Sokka rebuild the tower that the ship destroyed. "Suki?" She pops a head out of her tent. She gasps and runs to us, engulfing us both in a giant hug.

"How did you escape?"

"Easy, I used their own things against them." I continue to tell her how we escaped. Sokka came down eventually and listened as well. He wants to talk to us, and takes us to the edge of the village. There is a boat waiting with a few supplies in it. "What's this?"

"That was very resourceful thinking with the fire nation ship, Skaia. Because of that resourcefulness, I have a mission for you." He hands me a scroll. "I need you to take this to Whale Tail Island. There is a small civilization there. They will help you take it where it needs to go. Do you think you can do this for me?" Aaron and I nod our heads. "Good. I'm entrusting this to you two." He starts handing things to Aaron. "Here's a map, and a compass, and-" We hear a crack and start looking around. I turn around and hear the crack again. I'm facing away from them. "Skaia, whatever you do, don't turn-"

"What's wrong-" I turn around to face him, but the ice beneath me collapses. It feels like the blood in my body is quickly freezing, making my limbs immovable. I try my hardest to get back to the surface, but it's dark, and I can feel myself begin to freeze to death. Everything goes dark for a few seconds, before it becomes extremely bright. There is a bright purple light surrounding everything. It's bright, but it doesn't hurt my eyes. I have no idea what it is, but it feels familiar. I can hear voices off in the distance. I hear one coming up to me. It's Suki's voice. She's yelling for me to come back. Come back? From where? I don't even know where I am. She yells that she's right here for me, and I instantly feel calm. The purple light vanishes. I feel like I'm falling, but it feels like something caught me. It feels like water. I open my eyes slowly and see Sokka, Aaron, and Suki looking at me really worried. "What happened?" They all look at each other. Aaron puts me down on the ice. "Wait, it's going to break again."

He shakes his head. "No, I put a few extra layers of ice so it wouldn't break again."

"Skaia, do you remember the things I told you earlier?" I nod my head. "Even the things about the Avatar?" I nod my head a bit slower. What is she getting at? I mean, it's not like I'm the Avatar or anything, right? Seriously, that's impossible. "Well, sweetheart, you're the Avatar."

Well guess I was wrong. "What do you mean? Why was everything purple? I felt like I was going to die." I whisper the last question. "What happened to me?" I hear some screaming. We look up and see a guy falling as the snow watch tower collapses. Aaron runs and uses his bending to catch the man, but he can't react fast enough to stop the slight avalanche that's coming toward Sokka, Suki, and me. All of the following things happen in a few seconds. I close my eyes and feel something stirring inside of me. Something is telling me to move. I don't know what it is, maybe my drive to protect myself and my friends. I reach down and grab that energy out of the air. I pull it up and spin it with me, creating a ball of that energy around me. Whatever it was, it did the trick, along with making me feel kinda sweaty. I open my eyes and see that Sokka and Suki are fine, but they look confused. I turn and see everyone staring at me while Aaron walks up to me. "Why is everyone staring at me? What did I do?"

"You fire-bent."

"Wait, what? I thought you said that the next Avatar was supposed to be a water-bender." Aaron takes my hand and leads me to the boat. He walks back to his parents and talks to them a bit before coming back. He has a few scrolls in his hands. "Are we leaving already?" All he does is nod and begin rowing us away from the southern water tribe. I look to Suki confused as we are rowing away, but she doesn't look at me. I turn away from Aaron and just stare out at sea.

After a few hours of rowing, he stops. "Can you hand me the map and the compass?" I just sit there. He sighs and when he gets up to get it himself, the boat rocks unsteadily. "I can't get it without tipping us." Still, no response. "You've been quiet this entire time. What's been on your mind?" I mumble something, but he can't hear me. "I didn't quite catch that."

"At me."

"What?"

I get angry and turn to him. "I said, 'Why wouldn't see look at me?'! Suki was the one that I had gotten the closest too! When we left, she couldn't even stand to look at me! What did I do that was so wrong!? All I did was do what my subconscious told me to do! Apparently, that meant fire-bending! Did I become a monster just because they learned that I could fire-bend, something that I didn't even know I could do?" I turn back to my original position. "Am I a monster?"

He spins me around and puts his hands on my shoulders. He looks me directly in my eyes. "No. You are not a monster. Being a fire-bender doesn't make you a monster. It's what you do with it that makes you a monster. The same thing could be said about any of the other elements."

"Did I do something bad with the fire? Did I accidentally burn someone, or something? If I did, they could have just told me, not treat me like I had a contagious disease." He lets go of my shoulders.

"You didn't burn anyone. You actually saved them. I think it has to do with the things that you said earlier. I think they felt that you lied to them about not knowing who you were. Look at it from their point of view. A strange person washes up on our shores, and, later that day, a fire-nation ship comes to our village. That's the only time you could have tricked us, though. I mean, you helped me escape, and we learned that you are the Avatar. The Avatar is the bringer of peace, no matter what nation they're from. I don't really understand why they wouldn't look at you. I mean, they were friends with the previous fire lord. To sum up my answer, I don't know, adults are weird." We laugh at this.

"Thanks, Aaron. That made me feel a lot better. If it was some personal reason, then I wouldn't be able to understand why, anyway. Oh, and you were quiet the entire time, too. What were you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about how I already missed my family. I haven't even been gone that long. I've gone on hunting trips longer than this."

"Well, why is this time any different than the hunting trips that you went on?"

"Maybe because this seems so much more permanent. I've never even left the south pole before. I've always been able to run to my dad or my mom if anything ever happened. Now, I won't be able to do that anymore."

I scoot over and put my hand on his. "Well, you'll have me from now on. I'll never be able to replace your parents, but maybe eventually you'll be able to bring all of your things to me. I mean, I am the Avatar. Solving problems is my job." We laugh some more. "You just have to promise me one thing."

"Sure, whatever you want. I can't exactly tell you no right now." We laugh some more.

After the laughter dies down, I put my hands in my lap. "Well, while we are doing what you're dad wanted us to do, we have to do a few things. We have to find people to teach me. As the Avatar, I have to master all of the four elements, right?" He nods his head. "Well, I don't really know how to fire-bend. Suki said that the elements went in a cycle."

He nods. "Yes. Air, water, earth, and then fire. The Avatar has to learn them in that order."

I nod. "Well then, we have to find a fire-bending teacher, an air-bending teacher, a water-bending teacher, and an earth-bending teacher. She also said something about the Spirit World. I need to learn about that, too. While we are doing this, do you think that we could try to figure out my past as well?"

"I don't see why not? Maybe we can also find out why you are a fire-bender instead of a water-bender. If anything, air-bending is the most spiritual of all the bending. There is a lot of meditating involved. That's why the previous Avatar could access the Spirit World as easily as he could. Maybe, when you begin to learn air-bending, you will be able to connect to your past lives, and maybe even figure out what happened before I found you in that boat of yours. It may be a bit difficult to find you an air-bending teacher, though. Like my mother said, all of the air-benders were wiped out by the war."

"By the way, what were those scrolls that she handed you?"

"Oh, those were water-bending scrolls. She gave them to me so that I could prepare myself for the upcoming battles."

"Well, maybe we can find some air-bending scrolls if we can't find a teacher for me."

"Yeah, that might work. Alright, you've got yourself a deal." We shake hands. "Now, will you please hand me the map and the compass. I don't want to get lost out here." I laugh and hand him what he needs.


End file.
